Method of forming golf shafts and the like



- May 14, 1935.

H. M. WILCOX METHOD OF FORMING GOLF SHAFTS AND THE LIKE Original FiledOct.

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Snnentor Ha/h'e M [Mi/cox 4 (lttorneg May 14, 1935. H.M. WILCOX METHOD OF FORMING GOLF SHAFTS AND .THE LIKE Original FiledOct. 3, 1930 lnnentor Hal/[e M Wl/cox.

application Serial No.

Fatented May 14, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT} OFFICE Hallie M. Wilcox,Geneva, om, assig-nor to The American" Fork &

Ohio, a. corporation Hoe Company, Cleveland,

of Ohio Original application October 3, 1930, Serial No.

486,178. Divided and this '17, 1933, Serial No.

application January 8 Claims. (c1. 29 s) My invention relates togolfclubs and relates more particularly to the provision of improved handleshaft means for golf clubs.

This application is divisional of my copending 486,178, filed October 3,1930.

Prior to my present invention, it has been found desirable to providegolf clubs with tubular steel shafts, the club heads being supported ona reduced end of the shaft,,and it has been moreover found that when thehead supporting reduced ends of the shaft are of relatively smalldiameter, within reasonable limits, the efliciency of the shaft isincreased. I

However, it has been found that so reducing the diameter of the headsupporting ends-of the shaft, causes them to be more susceptible tobreakage or to permanent distortion of form. depending upon the temperof the steel and the force of the blow or stress imparted to the shaftcausing the breakage or deformation.

'Various efforts have been made to provide golf club shafts having theirsmaller ends of small diameter, but wherein the liability to breakageand/or deformation incidental to the hard usage of practice, is reduced,but all such efforts, so far as I am aware, have not satis-' factorilysolved the problem, and it is an object of my invention, therefore, tomore completely solve the problem above stated than has been heretoforefound possible to do."

An object 'of my invention is to provide a method of forming an improvedshaft for golf clubs, the shaft possessing considerable resistance tobreakage and/or deformation, but not being unduly heavy or of undulylarge diameter. 7

Another object of my invention is to provide a method of forming, animproved shaft for golf clubs wherein susceptibility to breakage isavoided in animproved manner.

Another object of my invention is to provide a method of forming animproved shaft for golf clubs having'considerable resistanceto'laterallyacting deflecting forces.

Another object of my invention is to provide an improved shaft for golfclubs which-offers a considerable resistance to torsional stressesexerted upon the smaller end of the shaft during play and a method ofmaking the same.

Another object of my invention is to provide ,a method of forming animproved shaft for golf clubs.

Other objects of my invention and the invention itself will become moreapparent from the following description of an embodiment of myinvention, and from the drawings illustrating the said embodiment,reference being had to the said drawings in the said description.

In the drawings: Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a golf club with aportion of a shaft therefor, embodying the principles of my invention;

Fig.2 is a view of the club and the portion of the shaft of Fig. 1, withthe shaft portion and a part of a golf club head being shown inlongitudinal medial sectional view;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line'33 of Fig.1;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 1;

Fig.5 is an elevational view of the golf club shaft, per se; v Fig. 6 isa longitudinal medial sectional view of one of a plurality of dieelements having die apertures of relatively graduated diameters,employed in the forming of the shaft of Fig, 5;

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal medial sectional view of a different kind ofdie element employed for a special purpose in the forming of theembodiment shaft of the foregoing figures;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of the die of Figure 7 taken onthe line 8-8 of Fig. 7;

Figs. 9, 9a, 9b, 9c, 9d, 9e and 9 are views illustratingdiagrammatically the successive operations imparted to a tube to formthe shaft, which is an embodiment of my invention, by forming dies, suchas that shown in Figs. 6, 7 and 8;

Fig. 10 is a section taken on the line Ill-40 of Fig. 7, showing intransverse sectional view the tube operated upon after an initialoperation involving the use of the die of Figs. 7 and 8;

Figs. 11, l2, l3 and 14 views taken on the lines l|-ll, l2l2, and |3l3and l4 l4 of Fig. 9;

The different views are not necessarily on the same scale, for instance,the transverse sectional views of the tube are shown to a larger scalethan the longitudinal medial sectional views, and the elevational viewsthereof.

Referring now to all of the figures of drawing, in all of which likeparts are designated by like reference characters, the handle shaft forgolf clubs of my invention is preferably produced from a cylindricaltube of a diameter, preferably, equal to that desired to be obtained atthe largare transverse sectional est or grip supporting end of the shaftillustrated in Fig. 5, which-is an elevational view of a finished shaftwith the grip shown thereon.

l I tion 2 with a bore 3 to provide a die aperture,

illustrated in Fig. 5 from -Reference should be had in connection withthat part of the following description relating to the stepped taperednature of the shaft illustrated in the drawings and the method and-means for forming such a shaft, to the prior patent to Robert H.Cowdery, No. 1,670,530, for Golf club shafts. l

Although my invention is not limited to being embodied in a shaft of thecharacter described in the said Letters Patent, it is susceptible to usein connection with such a shaft, and therefore, the shaft illustratedand described herein is of such a general character.

Referring to the drawings, Figs. 7 and 8 illustrate a forming die havinga tubular body porthe bore 3 being of generally circular outline, variedhowever, by the provision of inwardly extending projections 4 equallyspaced around the walls 5 of the bore, these in the embodimentillustrated being four in number, arranged 90 apart, and preferablydisposed adjacent an end of the body portion.

In the process of forming a shaft, such as a cylindrical tube, an endportion of the tube is first projected through the aperture of the dieof Figs. 7 and 8 to a degree whereby the .die projections, 4 willprovide longitudinally extending grooves 6,-in the outer surface of thetube, by bodily displacing portions 1 of the" outer wall inwardly for ashort distance; preferably, the grooves Gare straight, being arrangedin'parrallel relation with the axis of the tube and equi-distant fromeach other. f 1

The grooves proceed from an end of the shaft towards the other end tosuch a distance as it is desired 'to effect reinforcement of the tube,and in the embodiment shown in Fig. 1, the position'of' the-grooves andtheir length is indicated by the seamst, which are visible to. a carefulobserverI-on the exterior surface of the tube afterthe grooves have beenclosed, progressively as indicated in Figs. 10 to 13 inclusive, Fig. 13showing the seams 8, though perhaps in a more exaggerated manner thanusually attained in'practice.

The grooving operation is illustrated at the extreme left of Fig. 7,where the die 2 is shown with an end'jiortion of the tube projectedtherethrough with resultant grooves 6 formed on the exterior surface ofthe tube end.

Fig. lpr-illustrates a transverse section taken on the-line 10-40 of theshaft portion after grooving by the projection through the die element;2.

Referring more particularly to Fig. 10, it will be seen that theprojections 4 effect bodily movement of longitudinally extending loops 1of the sheet metal material of the tube ,I, tapering the outer surfaceof the deflected portions inwardly from the adjacent outer surfaces 9 ofthe tube,

length of the end of the tube I, the tube I so deformed is removed fromthe die 2, and is then successively projected through a series of diessuch as the dies II, I2, l3, I4, I5, I6, and I'I,"each of which issubstantially formed like the die I I,

which is reproduced in enlarged view in Fig. 6, except that-thesuccessively higher numbered.

dies have die apertures indicated at IQ, Fig. 6, of successively lessand less diameters, whereby when successively shorter portions of an endof the tube I, previously grooved, are projected through the successivedies II to II inclusive, the walls of the tube I, are compressedinwardly to progressively greater degrees towards the extremeend of thetube to effect a progressive decrease of diameter and increase of wallthickness.

The operation involving the use of the dies II to Il-inclusive is morecompletely described in my above said prior patent, and in the copendingapplication of Robert H. Cowdery, Serial No. 314,650, filed October 24,1928, for Press for tubes, to which reference may be had for a morecomplete description of the press operations involving the use of suchreducing dies, whereby thetube is deformed to provide successivelyreduced successive portions, such as II, 20, 2|, 22, 23, 24, and 25 ofsuccessively greater wall thickness.

Broadly consideredthe present invention is independent of whether or notthe tube is formed with steps, such as the steps I9 to 24 inclusive. Butwhen steps are formed, the successive dies II to I! inclusive,preferably will be of such a number as is required by the physicalcharacteristics of the tube material. The end portion of the tube whichwas previously provided with the groove 6 is progressively reduced indiameter byprojection through the successively smaller die openings-andthe effect of such compressive stresses as are had incidental to pushingthe groove end portion of the tube through successlvely smaller dies, isto cause a bodily movement of the portions of the tube comprising, theelongated loops 1 in such man- 'ner as is illustrated in Figs. 10 to 13inclusive,

wherein it may be seen that as a result of such progressive reduction indiameter, compressively achieved, the loops are made deeper andcoincidentally narrower. Thus ultimately, the loops each comprises apair of thicknesses 26 and 2! of sheet metal material originally a partof the circumferential walls of the tube I, joined together by anintegral portion 28 of such wall material, the two wall portions 26 and21 being in intimate closely contacting engagement, as at 29, to producewhat has previously been termed herein the seamed lines 8, which aloneare visible on the exterior surfaces of the tubes, the seam beingsubstantially entirely closed from the outer surface at 8 to theintegral connecting portion 28, and the tube so formed, as shown incross-sectional view in Fig. I4, is provided with a substantiallypreferably cylindrical outer surface.

Although for various purposes, the length of the grooves 8 may bevaried, I preferably provide grooves in the small end of the tube,forming the handle shaft for 'a golf club. having a head such as thatshown at 30, Figs. 1 and 2, to project perhaps 6 inches. or more abovethe hosel end of said club head.

However, within the purview of my invention this distance may be variedand within the purview of my invention, broadly considered, the groovemay extend for the entire length of the tubes forming the handle shafts.

The tube operated upon by the dies described, will preferably be heattreated, before and after the difierent operations, to'insure that whenthe shown in Fig. 13, that no crystallization tending towards fracturemay occur. As is well known in the art of drawing sheet metal, thenumber and character of heat treatments required depends upon the kindof steel employed,vand the amount of the deformation effected at eachoperation.

After the tube has reached its final form, it may receive a carburizingheat treatment to case harden its outer surface, so as to give to thetube that degree of temper which is desired in steel tubularhandle'shafts for golf clubs.

After the shaft is completed, the heads are applied thereto in any wellknown manner and in Figs. 1 and 2, I have illustrated a so-called ironstriking head 30 applied to the reduced end of the shaft by providingthe tubular hosel 32 with a tubular adapter 33 of wood or othernon-resonant material, projected partially within the hosel recess, itsouter surface being suitably tapered to conform to the shape of saidrecess.

In the embodiment illustrated, the portion 33' of the adapter projectingabove the upper edge 3| of the hosel has its outer surface likewisetapered, but in the opposite direction and a metal sleeve 34 telescopedover the shaft end has its larger end projected over a tapered end ofthe outer portion 33' of the adapter into abutting engagement. with anannular flange of the 'said adapter which engages with the top edge 3|of the hosel. The hosel, tube and adapter are rigidly secured togetherby a rivet pin 35 projected from side to side therethrough and headedover on the outside of the hosel. The tapered tubular sleeve 34preferably projects for a short distance towards the large end of theshaft, and preferably at its smaller. end engages with a shoulder 36formed at the junction of two steps of the tube.

Having thus described my invention in a given embodiment, I am awarethat numerous and extensive departures may be made from the embodimentherein illustrated and described, but without departing from the spiritof my invention.

I claim:

.1. The method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs from a metaltube which includes infolding the wall of the tube to substantiallyuniform depth at circumferentially spaced intervals and longitudinallyover a portion of the length of the tube proceeding from one end, anddrawing the tube to taper it toward the said end and close up the foldsto produce inwardly radially extending longitudinal 1'ibs substantiallycontinuous in cross-section.

2. The method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs from a metaltube which includes infolding the wall-of the tube to substantiallyuniform depth at circumferentially spaced intervals and longitudinallyover a portion of the length of the tube proceeding from one end, and

drawing the tube in a succession of stepped dies to step-taper it towardthe said end and to close up the folds to produce inwardly radiallyextending longitudinal ribs substantially continuous in cross-section.

ing the tube in a succession of stepped dies to step-taper it toward thesaid end and to close up the folds to produce inwardly radiallyextending longitudinal ribs substantially continuous .in cross-section,and to cause the ribs to extend from said end beyond the first step.

. 4. A method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs comprising thesteps of infolding circumferentially spaced portions from a metal tubein a longitudinal direction' proceeding from one and, drawing the tubethrough a succession of dies to taper the tube toward the said end, theinfolded portions being substantially wholly collapsed to formlongitudinal ribs extending inwardly through lateral walls of the tube.

5. A method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs comprising thesteps of infolding spaced circumferential portions of the tube in alongitudinal direction proceeding from one end of the-tube, and'drawingthe-tube through a succession of dies to efiect a progressive decreasein diameter and increase of wall thickness toward the said end.

6. A method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs comprising thesteps of infoldlng spaced circumferential portions of the tube in alongitudinal direction proceeding from one end, drawing the tube througha succession of successively smaller dies,.the tube portions drawnthrough each of said dies being of successively less and less length inthe successively smaller throat taper portions toward said sivelygreater wall thickness.

7. A method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs comprising the'steps of infolding spaced circumferential portions of the tube in alongitudinal direction proceeding from one end of the tube, drawing thetube through a succession of dies to effect a progressive decrease indiameter and increase in wall thickness toward the said end, andheat-treating the shaft after'each drawing operation.

8. The method of forming a tubular shaft for golf clubs substantially asoutlined in claim to provide step- 7, characterized by heat-treating theshaft after the final operation to carburize the shaft surface.

HA LLIE M. WILCOX.

case of dies having end and a succes-

